Consider that, today, more than 70% of Americans use social media—up from only 5% tallied in 2005, according to the Pew Research Center. A handful of key players in the space continue to rule. Social Media Examiner's "2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report" revealed that the top platforms used by marketers are Facebook (94%), Twitter (68%), LinkedIn (56%), Instagram (54%), YouTube (45%), Pinterest (30%), and Snapchat (7%). So what's in stor for 2018?

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The Los Angeles Timesannounced a venture with journalist Jose Antonio Vargas to establish #EmergingUS, a multimedia platform which will explore the evolving American identity in the 21st century. Vargas will lead an effort to write commentary and produce original video, graphics and other digital content that focuses on the intersection of race, immigration, identity, and the complexities of multiculturalism. #EmergingUS will aim to illuminate these issues and create a dialogue at a time when demographic shifts are transforming the face of America.

During his 16 years as a journalist, Vargas has written for newspapers (Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Daily News) and magazines (New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic), and he was a senior contributing editor at the Huffington Post, where he launched and edited the Technology and College verticals. At the Washington Post, he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre, and his 2006 series on HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C., inspired "The Other City," a documentary that he co-produced and wrote.

In June 2011, the New York Times Magazine published an essay Vargas wrote in which he revealed his status as an undocumented immigrant. A year later, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine with fellow undocumented immigrants as part of a follow-up story he wrote.

Vargas also is the founder of Define American, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media and culture organization that seeks to elevate the conversation about immigration and citizenship. To receive news and updates from #EmergingUS, follow @emergingUS on Twitter.